Masterpieces for the Gentleman

Masterpieces for the Gentleman

The Watch
A Swiss watch maker¹ will tell you the only non-negotiable item in the world is time. It can't be bought, sold or traded, therefore its measurement is precious. It marks the joys, the 1)melancholy², the sadness and the great moments of our life, and to some that requires nothing less than the genuine article.

Those 2)prestige watches include names like Piaget, Lockman and Chopard, manufacturers who like to use 18 carat gold bands, 3)studded with 4)mother-of-pearl and diamonds to create spectacular jewelry³ that 5)outshines a simple ability to tell time. Others like Rolex or Omega are famous for their solid dependability.

Leading that field is no minor⁴ achievement. Swiss brands have dominated watch making since the early 16th century, but before that workforce⁵ could develop into the five-billion-dollar industry it is today, the watch had to evolve to being more than just a lady's 6)trinket.

All watches tell time, but a good watchmaker wants to do far more than that. And that breeds a fierce sense of craftsmanship⁶ and competition which has led to some of the great treasures in watch-making.

Darym Schnipoer (International Director, Sotheby): One of those watches which is known as the "Henry Graves Supercomplication", this particular watch has the night time sky over New York city, giving the proper 7)longitude⁷ and 8)latitude⁸ of course, gives you sunrise, sunset, 9)equation of time which is the difference between 10)mean time and 11)sidereal⁹ time. On the other dial, we had the feature that 12)chimes the time like a clock. In this case it had 13)Westminster chimes, which means that is sounded just like 14)Big Ben.

Henry Graves’ watch sold at auction¹⁰ in 1999 at the highest price ever bid for a time piece, which is just as well because according to 15)Bill Prince, a man’s only legitimate¹¹ piece of adornment¹² is his time piece.

The Pen
It is that ability to convey character that makes a fountain pen so treasured. Part of that personality comes from the design of a fountain pen that has changed little since Louis Waterman's 1884 16)patent for the channeled feed. Fine pens like Cartier, Visconti and Crowe have been appreciated and collected for nearly a century. But one French manufacturer has captured the imagination and hearts of pen-lovers throughout the world.

John Frampton (Boutique Manager, Mont Blanc): We're not about being a 17)disposable item. It's about having an item and having it for years and years. And that's an important part of our culture at Mont Blanc.

18)Tipped with 19)iridium and 20)platinum¹³ for extra strength, Mont Blanc 21)nibs are cut, 22)ground and finished by hand in a process that has not changed over the last century. Why? So that no two pens are ever alike. It is both this uniqueness of character and 23)innate¹⁵ ability to convey emotion that defines your pen as your own. Some manufacturers specialize in placing a piece of history in your hand.

John: We go all the way up to the 24)Solitaire 25)Royale and this is a 26)phenomenal writing instrument. It's 27)encrusted with 4,810  diamonds. 4810 is actually the height of the mountain Mont Blanc in metres, so 4810 is a very important number to Mont Blanc. But this is not a writing instrument for everyone. It's perfect for the client who for a desk writing instrument or going out on a formal occasion, where we're using it as a piece of jewelry, putting it on a 28)lapel, withdrawing it from a handbag. It's probably more a piece of jewelry than a writing instrument.

Host: It's a 29)showstopper, isn't it?

John: It's a showstopper.

People who collect and use fine pens all say the same thing: it's one of the most practical luxuries they can imagine. And even if the reader never knows it, the writer has the satisfaction of using nothing less than the genuine article.

注释:
1) melancholy [5melEnkEli] n. 忧郁
2) prestige [pres5ti:dV] n. 声望
3) stud [stQd] v. 装上饰钉、装钮或类似之物
4) mother-of-pearl n. 珍珠母，珍珠质
5) outshine [aut5Fain] v. 放光，照耀
6) trinket [5triNkit] n. 小装饰品
7) longitude [5lCndVitju:d] n. 经度
8) latitude [5lAtitju:d] n. 纬度
9) equation [i5kweiFEn] n. 平衡，equation of time即时差
10) mean time 太阳时
11) sidereal [sai5diEriEl] a. 由星座决定的，sidereal time即恒星时
12) chime [tFaim] n. 类似钟声的声音
13) Westminster 威斯敏斯特教堂（全称是Westminster Abbey，又译西敏寺），位于英国伦敦，英国所有国王和女王都是在此地加冕，死后也多半长眠于此。
14) Big Ben 英国伦敦的大笨钟是著名的旅游景点，以它巨大的钟面闻名，大钟于1859年建成。
15) Bill Prince 《GQ》 杂志副编辑（Deputy Editor of GQ magazine）
16) patent [5peitEnt] n. 专利
17) disposable [dis5pEuzEbl] a. 用后即丢弃的
18) tip [tip] v. 覆盖（或装饰）……的顶端
19) iridium [i5ridiEm] n. 铱
20) platinum [5plAtinEm] n. 白金，铂
21) nib¹⁴ [nib] n. （钢）笔尖
22) grind [^raind] v. 磨
23) innate [5ineit] a. 天生的
24) solitaire [7sCli5tZE] n. 单粒宝石
25) royale [rCi5Al] n. 蛋奶糕饰块。Solitaire Royale是Mont Blanc的一款钢笔。
26) phenomenal [fi5nCminl] a. 杰出的，不寻常的
27) encrust [in5krQst] v. （用贵重物品）装饰外层
28) lapel [lE5pel] n. 翻领
29) showstopper [5FEu7stCpE] n. 因赢得掌声而使演出中断的台词、表演等

浪漫绅士

时光永恒　——　表

瑞士制表商会告诉你，这个世界上惟一不能讨价还价的事物就是时间。时间无法买卖和交易，因此它的测定是宝贵的。它记录了我们生命中的欢欣、痛苦、悲伤和每一个重要时刻; 对于某些人来说，他们需要真品来计时。
全球极负盛名的表，如伯爵、洛克曼和萧邦，其钟表制造商都喜欢用18K金做表带，再镶嵌上珍珠母和钻石，打造出一件光彩夺目的珠宝工艺品，使得指示时间这种简单的功能退居次位。其它名表，如劳力士或欧米茄，都以稳定可靠而著称。
在制表业要处于领先地位并不是一件容易的事。自16世纪初期起，瑞士生产的表一直统领着制表业。今天，制表业已经发展成了一个价值50亿美元的行业; 而在这之前，手表就得突破只能作为女士们的小饰物这种限制。
所有的手表都能显示时间，但一个优秀的制表商所想做到的绝不仅限于此。这就催生了一丝不苟的制作工艺和强烈的行业竞争意识，并使得制表业出现了一些不可多得的珍品。

达琳·施尼珀尔（苏富比国际部经理）: 那些表中有一只名为“享利·格雷夫超级复杂计时器”，它的表盘是纽约城的夜空，显示精确的经度、纬度，有日落、日出的时间，还有时差，即太阳时和恒星时的差异。在另一个表盘，设定了类似于时钟一样的报时功能，它会响起威斯敏斯特的钟声，听起来就像英国大笨钟敲出的声音。

享利·格雷夫的这只表在1999年的拍卖会上卖出了计时器中的最高价，这也印证了比尔·普林斯的话：男人惟一真正的饰件就是表。

个性迷人 —— 笔

正是因为能体现个性，钢笔才尤为珍贵。这种特性的一部分就来自于钢笔的设计--自从1884年路易斯·沃特曼获得了钢笔墨水管的发明专利以来，钢笔的设计变化不大。做工优良的钢笔，如卡地亚、维斯康提和克罗，为世人所欣赏和收藏已近一个世纪。但一名法国制造商满足了全世界钢笔热爱者们对钢笔的想像和热衷。

约翰·弗兰普顿（万宝龙门市部经理）：我们要做的不是那些用完即丢的笔，而是适合多年收藏的一种物品，这是我们万宝龙文化中很重要的一部分。

用铱和白金做笔尖使之更耐用，万宝龙的整个工序，包括笔尖的削割、打磨至最后完成均为手工制作，这种工序从上世纪以来从未改变过。为什么？因为只有这样你才不会找到两支一模一样的钢笔。正是因为这种特性和特有的工艺才能传达出情感，才能使你的钢笔真正属于你自己。某些制造商非常擅长将一段神奇的历史融入你手中的笔。

约翰: 我们最花心思制造的是这支名为“Solitaire Royale”的钻石钢笔，这可是笔中极品。它的外壳嵌有4810颗钻石。4810本是万宝龙山的高度，所以4810对万宝龙来说是一个非常重要的数字。而这支笔并不是适合所有人随身携带以作书写之用，最理想的是摆在桌上作书写工具，或是携以出席正式场合，把它当成一件珠宝，将笔别在翻领上，或从提包里取出来，这样，与其说它是一件书写工具，倒不如说它更像是一件珠宝。

主持人：十分抢镜，是吗？

约翰: 十分抢镜。

收集和使用精致的笔的人都会说同样一句话: 这是他们所能想像到的最实用的奢侈品之一了。即使阅读者从不知道这是支好笔，但书写者却因使用这样的真品而满足。

 

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

3 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

4 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

6 craftsmanship   

n.手艺

参考例句：

• The whole house is a monument to her craftsmanship. 那整座房子是她技艺的一座丰碑。
• We admired the superb craftsmanship of the furniture. 我们很欣赏这个家具的一流工艺。

7 longitude   

n.经线，经度

参考例句：

• The city is at longitude 21°east.这个城市位于东经21度。
• He noted the latitude and longitude,then made a mark on the admiralty chart.他记下纬度和经度，然后在航海图上做了个标记。

8 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

9 sidereal   

adj.恒星的

参考例句：

• The sidereal year is not used to construct a calendar. 恒星年不用于编制年历。
• A sidereal day is about 4 minutes shorter than a solar day.一个恒星日比一个太阳日大约短4分钟。

10 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

11 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

12 adornment   

n.装饰；装饰品

参考例句：

• Lucie was busy with the adornment of her room.露西正忙着布置她的房间。
• Cosmetics are used for adornment.化妆品是用来打扮的。

13 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

14 nib   

n.钢笔尖；尖头

参考例句：

• The sharp nib scratched through the paper.钢笔尖把纸戳穿了。
• I want to buy a pen with a gold nib.我要金笔。

15 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。